Any Cat Owners Here?

Originally posted by Diamond Geezer@Dec 8 2006, 06:55 PM
So how do you transport a cat 160 miles ? Mrs DG is putting ours in a cattery for two weeks whilst we settle in to our new home and get Christmas over with and then we are driving back to Cornwall to collect it, taking it to the vet to have it chipped and sedated for the journey , then driving back to Cheltenham after dark so it can't see too much out of the window

.......all in one day. :blink:

Next problem, how do you stop it doing a runner if it doesn't settle in ?

Even if it does the neighbouring properties all have cats and ours doesn't take kindly to having other cats on its patch :ph34r: :P
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Roger just think!!!......... how Longleat or Bristol zoo manages mate :o :lol:


Gearoid are you talking about pussies!!!! or what??????? :lol:
 
I advise anyone moving house or adopting one of my fosters to keep cats in for as long as possible, the minimum being two weeks. Some of mine were kept in for three months when we moved here (the less intelligent ones!). Wait until it's quiet outside and they're hungry before letting them out for a wander.
 
DG, you keep your cat indoors for a couple of weeks, the first few days it will sulk and go off its food but will gradually come around.
Take him on a lead around the garden and let him smell his new territory.
 
We have moved house several time and Rhys has not been a problem at all with any of the moves. As Lee and Griffin say, just keep the cat indoors until you are happy that it is confident in it's new surroundings.

I just then walked around the garden with Rhys whilst she became familiar with the new smells and surroundings. She is probably the worlds laziest cat to be honest, so we were quite confident she wouldn't do a runner.. and she likes to know she is always physically (very) close to her next meal.

DG, you and Mrs DG will know how confident your own cat will be after a while in the new house, so use your own gut reaction and you will probably be fine.
 
Roger, I wouldn't worry for a moment about it seeing out of the window. If you have a proper cat carrier with some of its toys and its blanket in it, it will enjoy something familiar. AND as it's sedated, it isn't going to give a shit about the view, as it'll be stoned. If you really want to deny it sight, then just chuck a light cloth over the carrier. It's not like it's going to note service stations on the way for its attempt at a return journey! - so there's no real point to driving back in the dark.

If you can set up its feeding bowls, bed, whatever it has, as much as possible in the positions it had before, that might help it feel more at home. As suggested, a little cat harness and lead would be a good idea for wearing outside, which means you can actually take it out the next day quite safely for it to explore its new garden. Again, as suggested, it may be several days before your cat feels settled, but if there's lots of loud miaowing to go out, I'd still keep it harnessed. I gave in after about five days of incessant miaowing from one cat I moved, and the little beast promptly ran 3 miles back to her previous home! So I think the harness idea is excellent.
 
Medium-range missile? Ring up the Iraqi Embassy - they can probably do you a good deal with an old Scud, DG.
 
Agree with all the above but when you first let the cat out without the harness smear a little butter the the cats paws (furry side not the pads) & then let him out, what normally would happen is the cat would sit there & lick its paws rather than run off at 60mph & loose any bearing it has.
 
I have heard that as well, about the butter on the cat's paws. Never had to try it but is well worth considering.

Hope all is well, Helen.
 
:lol: I tried the butter-on-paws lark, and all the cat did was scull off for three days and return with a load of muck stuck on it!

"I suppose you thought that was clever, eh? I'd sit in the garden and lick the grease off? No bloody chance, woman! You can now wash it off me and give me a damn good meal, or else it's voles and mice in the kitchen for the next month!" :angry:
 
Originally posted by krizon@Dec 10 2006, 02:21 PM
You can now wash it off me and give me a damn good meal, or else it's voles and mice in the kitchen for the next month!
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Good luck keeping all your limbs attached while trying to wash a cat
 
I only ever tried it once.... and NEVER again. Luckily she is an amazingly clean cat, but I know I should try and wash her occasionally, I just don't fancy the stress and struggle again. She doens't smell.... honest! :)

Washing a dog is so much easier. B)
 
I've bathed countless ex-fosters that have come to me in dreadful states and have got it down to a fine art. Bathing a cat is never as bad as you think it will be.
 
I agree, Griffin - same here. They're usually so stunned by the event, they scratch you a lot later in revenge! I HAD to bathe my tiny, slightly spastic cat one day - she came tottering in with half a pizza glued hard to her side! In spite of how she shrank to the size of a wet rat when bathed, she growled like a mini-tiger, bless.
 
I have spent the last 2 days moving house and thecat was brought to the new house yesterday. She did her usual. First she went to the gate as if to go out o the road, then through the hedge to next door :what: , then a quick circuit of the garden then in for her dinner. She loves the new house and has been purring happily whilst investigating. Barney loves it too as it has a bigger garden, so no more walking around the country lanes as previously, he can now exercise himself in the garden! :clap:
We decided to do the move ourselves as it is only about 15 mins from our previous address. Hired a 7.5 tonne with tail lift and then we are doing all the lifting and packing ourselves. It's a great form of exercise but not something I would suggest doing on a regular basis. :brows:
 
Wow this is impressive Kathy - most cats HATE any kind of travel unless they do it themselves! They are by nature used to guarding their terrority and when taken out of known surrounding most of them panic. Yours must be super smart or something to understand the benefits!

Our two elderly ones, sadly no longer with us, both went on hols with us to Devon and knew imediatley that the cottage was theirs, but only because it was full of furniture they knew from our old house. So, maybe this is why the cat felt at home.

I took in an old street cat from a cat refuge zillions of years ago and everyone gave me oodles of advice about how and when to let him out for the first time. I wrote it wll down and was planning to slowly work my way through it, cat in hand. It was a hot day and my partner opened a window on cats first evening in the house. Major panic, cat missing after dinner. Frantic neighborhood searches which informed all the neigbors that we were nuts ..... gave up, went back to house and wondered what to do next .... made a cup of tea (well you have to don't you?) and in strolled cat, through the same bloody window, meowed his approval of everything, and loudly demanded a meal. He never strayed again.

They are indeed inscrutible. (spelling?)

Good luck and much happiness in your new home. Hope nothing hurts too bad tomorrow after all of this exertion! :)
 
They're all so different. Joseph was ready to go out after two days here whereas after two and a half years one of them still cannot go out without losing herself the second she gets past the front door :laughing: Cats are just like people, some more intelligent than others. Joseph is a very clever boy, Rosie has sawdust keeping her ears apart.
 
Totally agree, Griffin. I'm off on holiday for a couple of weeks shortly and I have booked Minnie and Harry into a cattery, rather than asking a neighbour to look after them. This is primarily because Harry is a complete dipstick. A few weeks ago he went missing - and turned up inexplicably locked into an empty cottage a few doors down from me. I'm reasonably sure that if he was left "home alone" (except for his exceedingly bright little sister) he would wander off and get himself into all sorts of trouble!!
 
Windsor in the sun, with a glass of something fizzy, celebrating Katy-Q definitely being i/f is just the tonic I need right now!

Thanks for your good wishes, and I hope a few of you will soon be able to come and visit, especially if you are going racing at Ascot! :)

Our cat (a Manx) is a bit slow and very grumpy but appears to love it here! :luv:
 
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